Bowden Has Kick Coming

Here’s a kick in the pants. Well, for all those non-Florida State fans at least.

Bobby Bowden’s No. 1 priority coming into the season was not replacing top-five draft pick Peter Warrick, but kicker Sebastian Janikowski. The problem was, the player Bowden had recruited, got tired of waiting around. So Bill Gramatica - of the automatica Gramaticas (brother Martin is in the NFL) - transferred to South Florida.

Gramatica is 11 of 16, with three of his five misses coming from 55, 55 and 61 yards.

Janikowski’s actual replacement, walk-on Matt Munyan, is 3 of 8, with two of his misses from 22 and 49 yards costing the Seminoles a shot at the national title.

It’s enough to make even Bowden mutter more than a dadgumit or two. But Boss Bobby has been in this position before. After all, there couldn’t be a Wide Right III without a I and II. Those two came courtesy of Gerry Thomas and Dan Mowrey. Both missed against Miami. Both times it cost FSU a shot at the title. The only two years Bowden has won the title he had highly recruited kickers - Scott Bentley in 1993 and Janikowski in ‘99.

So common sense would dictate keeping a decent leg around. Or, at the very least, having an assistant coach familiar with kicking. But that’s not the way it works in college football.

“They (coaches) don’t think it is important,” said Washington State coach Mike Price.

Until coaches start to think giving kickers at least a modicum of instruction is important, expect to see more days like Saturday.

Not only did Munyan go wide right, but Oregon State’s Ryan Cesca missed a 44-yard, game-tying field goal against Washington.

In the Pittsburgh-Syracuse overtime game, six field goals and an extra point were missed.

And Purdue’s Travis Dorsch almost blew it for the second time in three weeks. Dorsch missed a 46-yard attempt in a 22-20 loss to woeful Penn State three weeks ago. Against Michigan, he missed a 32-yard, go-ahead attempt with 2:11 left. He got another chance and kicked the winner with 4 seconds left.

“It’s not too often you get a second chance like that,” Dorsch said after the game.

Chances are, Florida State won’t get one.

Dominating defense

It’s tradition at Mississippi State games to ring cowbells every time the Bulldogs touch the ball. It’s also quickly becoming a tradition to ring the bell of the opposing running back every time he touches the ball.

Take Auburn running back Rudi Johnson for instance. Johnson came in with five straight 100 yards games. He limped out with 26 yards on 18 carries.

“They ain’t been hit like that,” said Mississippi State cornerback Fred Smoot following the game. “And I know for a fact that Rudi Johnson ain’t been hit like that.”

The Bulldogs have been hitting like that all season. The MSU defense is first in the nation in rush defense, allowing just 24 yards per game. Next closest is Arizona, which allows 62 yards per game. All that defense has paid off for the Bulldogs. In back-to-back weeks, MSU has knocked off then-No. 3 Florida and then-No. 15 Auburn. It’s the first time in school history the Bulldogs have won back-to-back games over such high-ranking opponents.

The win over Florida sent fans streaming onto the field for the all-too-familiar tearing down of the goal posts. So, before the Auburn game, officials had the posts sprayed with silicone to keep climbers from getting a grip.

Heisman hype

There is good reason Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick and Nebraska’s Eric Crouch are neck-and-neck on many people Heisman’s ballots: They are also neck-and-neck statistically. Through five games, Vick has accounted for 1,119 yards (484 rushing and 635 passing) and 12 touchdowns. Crouch has 1,144 (478 rushing and 666 passing) and 16 TDs.

But both are way behind darkhorse candidate Woodrow Dantzler. The Clemson quarterback has 1,817 yards (732 rushing, 1,085 passing) and 19 touchdowns in six games.

Bum steer

Darrell Royal, the famous former Washington and Texas coach, almost missed what now we’re sure he wished he would have.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Royal could not find his credential to get into Oklahoma’s 63-14 shellacking of Texas Saturday. The woman at the press gate would not let him in. A security guard recognized Royal and said, “This is Coach Royal.”

“Coach who?” the woman asked.

The guard then showed the woman a picture of Royal - on the cover of the program.

News and notes

Indiana, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Oklahoma and Boise State are the only Division I-A teams to score at least 30 points in every game this season… . Penn State, USC, Alabama and Tennessee are a combined 9-13. All were ranked in the Top 25 to start the year. … For the first time ever, the Big East (which has only had football since 1991) has two teams in the Top 10… . Florida and Mississippi each have three teams in the Top 25… . Seven teams that have been ranked in the Top 10 this season have lost. Thirty-five teams have been ranked this season.